It seems BlackBerry might be getting into a patent fight against WiLAN. The company announced today that they have initiated new litigation against BlackBerry claiming patent infringement. The patent in the litigation is U.S. Patent No. 8,274,991 related to LTE handsets. There isn’t much more on the matter, but we’re sure we’ll be hearing more about this. Stay tuned to N4BB for m... »
If you’re one of the many wondering when they’ll be able to get their hands on a BlackBerry 10 slider phone, then it might be closer than you think. BlackBerry has been awarded a patent filed in December 2011 for a portrait keyboard slider. The image shows what looks like a Z10 mashed up with a Torch, and it looks pretty cool. There’s still no info about this device, but it’... »
RIM announced today a revision to their license agreement with InterDigital. The revision was made to include coverage for 4G products, including LTE devices. There currently aren’t any LTE devices beside the 4G PlayBook, but with the release of the upcoming BlackBery 10 smartphones this was a much needed revision. Check out the press release below. Press Release InterDigital and Research In... »
In the past, to mitigate data loss and leaks by corporations RIM would make camera-less devices. This might change with the introduction of their latest filed patent. Their newest patent is to ‘prevent inconspicuous use of cameras.’ In other words, “the camera restriction prevents a user from taking a picture of a subject if the device has not been steadily focused on the subject... »
A new pantent lawsuit has been filed against RIM. Company Wi-LAN Inc. has sued BlackBerry maker for infringing on U.S. Patent No. 6,260,168 related to Bluetooth technology. Wi-LAN seems to be out to get anyone who they think are infringing on their patents as they have already sued other companies just last week. Stay tuned to N4BB and well keep you updated on this. via FinancialPost »
Unwired Planet has decided to terminate its International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation against Research In Motion and Apple. Instead, Unwired Planet has decided to pursue the matter in the District Court of Delaware. Here’s a summary of what has happened in regards to Unwired Planet’s litigation: On Thursday morning, October 11th, all of the parties in the ITC investigation (Apple... »
RIM has published a patent describing a way to improve the way your smartphone retrieves data from the network. To maintain fast data speeds on a BlackBerry with low signal stength is difficult with increasing data usage today. With less-than-optimal speeds, the experience begins to suffer as uncompressed data needs to be pulled through multiple servers and processed. RIM is proposing that if s... »
Research In Motion Limited, a world leader in the mobile communications market, today learned that the Judge in a patent action brought by Mformation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has granted RIM’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, concluding that the evidence did not support the Jury’s finding of patent infringement. After considering motions... »
Research In Motion is at it again with what could be another revolutionary feature in smartphones. RIM has pushed a new patent application to the USPTO titled, “Thermographic Augmented Reality Display in an Electronic Device.” The patent describes the application as an electronic device with which you’re able to configure a future smartphone’s camera to capture thermal images from persons, p... »
IRVING, TEXAS–(Marketwire – July 20, 2012) – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX:RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today learned that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has terminated its investigation after making a determination in favor of RIM that the only asserted claim of Kodak’s U.S. Patent No. 6,292,218 for electron... »
Research In Motion looks to be interested in making future BlackBerry devices something right out of Sci-Fi. RIM has applied for a patent that will grant them the use of using emotion in messaging. How will this be possible? By using a combination of accelerometer, front-facing camera, and sensors to detect the amount of pressure a user is applying while typing out the message. Imagine if while in... »
Earlier this week Nokia added three additional patents to it’s list of alleged patents Research In Motion has apparently infringed upon. If things could not get any worse, RIM has to pay out $147.2 Million in damages to device management developer Mformation Technologies. The verdict is from a suit that alleged RIM was violating a remote management patent. The damages amount added out to $8 ... »
Nokia has added three more patents to a suit filed against Research in Motion back in May. The suit covers the following patents: EP1474750 on a “method and system for storing and transferring multimedia tags” EP08040461 on a “method and apparatus for updating the software of a mobile terminal using the air interface” EP1148681 on a “method for transferring resource i... »
Research in Motion has been granted yet another patent, this one to keep users from texting and driving, sort of. The patent would make users have to enter a CAPTCHA code to access the phone while it was in motion. At a certain speed, the phone locks and to unlock it you’d have to do one of a series of things, among those were math questions, identifying the object in the image and others. ... »
RIM has been focusing on a lot more that just BlackBerry 10. Another patent shows what RIM has been working on, besides the new OS. The patent shows what seems to be a battery charging holster that can recharge your phone’s battery on the go. It also has its own speakers which it’ll use for your BlackBerry’s alerts. Looks pretty cool right? Let us know your thoughts in the commen... »
Previously, we reported that Research In Motion had applied for a fuel cell patent. The technology would essentially allow a BlackBerry device to re-charge itself by various methods. RIM appears to be very serious about fuel cell technology, as they’ve applied for new patents. The new patent is geared towards a fuel cell within the frame of a device. While RIM may be planning for re-chargeab... »
We all know and love RIM’s qwerty keyboards, they are by far the best and most comfortable I’ve ever used, but even then there are still users with large hands that have some trouble typing in these devices. That’s why RIM has patents on a new trapezoidal design for qwerty keyboard with keys bigger than the other regular designs. The keys were made wider to increase accuracy when... »
In a new patent recently granted to Research In Motion, they’re looking to solve the problem of pressing your BlackBerry phone closer to your ear in order to better hear the person who is on the other line. The patent describes an adjustable acoustic speaker output “based on an estimated degree of seal of an ear about a speaker port”. Basically, it will be a system that will auto... »
Another day, another patent holder looking to make a dime. Varia Holdings LLC filed a complaint in New York that accuses RIM of infringing US Patent 7167731 titled “Emoticon input method and apparatus.” The patent reads: [quote]an input key that, when pressed by the user while in text mode, results in the display of a list of emoticons for selection by the user. By displaying a list of emoticons, ... »
Patents are always a great topic for debate. That is, not all of them ever come to fruition. This next one up is most strikingly interesting as it involves fuel cells. The idea is to place a fuel cell assembly between the keyboard and circuit board, whereby the keyboard allows for ventilation and a set key to ‘plunge’ the fuel cell tank. The formal wording from the patent: A mobile dev... »
